INGREDIENTS
- 140 grams
(5oz) cocoa butter - 140 grams
(5oz) unsweetened baking chocolate chopped - 70 grams
(2.5oz) powdered erythritol - 30 grams
(1oz) whey protein powder - 3/4 teaspoon
liquid stevia extract
INSTRUCTIONS
- Blend the erythritol and whey protein together into a superfine powder. This will result in smoother chocolate.
- Prepare a double boiler setup (recommended), or a small saucepan over low heat. Add cocoa butter and heat, stirring occasionally until melted.
- Add baking chocolate, stirring continuously until smooth.
- Add erythritol, whey protein, and stevia, stirring continuously until well mixed.
- Remove from heat and continue to stir until very smooth.
- At this point, you can proceed to the Keto Peanut Butter Cups recipe if desired. Or pour into chocolate molds. Refrigerate to cool until hardened. Store and enjoy at room temperature.
NUTRITION
| Makes 13 Servings |
| Amount Per Serving (1 ounce): |
| Calories 170 (84% from fat) | |
| Total Fat 16g | 25% |
| Saturated Fat 10g | 50% |
| Cholesterol 0mg | 0% |
| Sodium 10mg | 0% |
| Net Carb 1g | |
| Total Carb* 3.5g | 1% |
| Dietary Fiber 2.5g | 9% |
| Sugars 0.5g | |
| Protein 3g |
Low carb chocolate is a common request from anyone following a keto diet. Some people wonder if it’s possible to have no carb chocolate; unfortunately, the answer is no because even unsweetened 100% cocoa has carbs. And given how bitter unsweetened chocolate is, you need to add some kind of sweetener. To keep it low in carbs, that usually means a sugar free sweetener such as a mixture of stevia and erythritol.
This recipe is simple: just five ingredients combined together on the stovetop. The result is a ketogenic friendly milk chocolate that’s smooth, creamy, and solid at room temperature. It only has 1g of net carbs per 1 ounce serving.
You can use this recipe to make chocolate candy bars, keto peanut butter cups, or low carb chocolate chip cookies.
Making low carb chocolate:
This is actually not my recipe. It’s from Mr. Savory Tooth (or maybe it should be Mr. Sweet Tooth…) and it’s been months in the making. He probably experimented with 5-10 different versions before getting it right. The texture and taste has to be similar to milk chocolate, it needs to stay solid at room temperature, and it also has to look like milk chocolate.
We use unsweetened baking chocolate so that we’re starting off with pure 100% chocolate with as few carbs as possible. I like Bakers brand, but any other brand will work as long as the chocolate is unsweetened. The chocolate is melted with cocoa butter and whey protein powder, to give a milky appearance and taste.
Lastly, we use a combination of liquid stevia extract and powdered erythritol to sweeten the mixture. Why do we use both? Because if you use too much stevia, the taste will be overpowering, and if you use too much erythritol, you get a crystallization effect.
Setting up a double boiler:
If you’ve never melted chocolate using a double boiler before, watch the video below by Food52. All you need is a pot and a wide heat-proof bowl that can sit atop it. I’ve used both stainless steel and glass bowls.
After your chocolate mixture is combined and smooth, it’s time to pour it into a mold tray. You can use any mold you like, such as chocolate bar molds or molds with various fun shapes.
I poured the chocolate mixture into foil cupcake wrappers (pictured here) since I was using them to make keto peanut butter cups.
Equipment list for making chocolate:
- pot with fitted heatproof bowl for the double boiler
- digital food scale so that you can get proper weight measurements of ingredients
- blender for mixing erythritol and whey protein into superfine powder (I like the Nutribullet for this job)
- chocolate molds
Tips for perfect low carb chocolate:
- Use unsweetened 100% dark baking chocolate. If you’re not sure of a particular product, check the nutrition label. It should be about 55% fat by weight and the ingredients list should not include sugar.
- I don’t recommend substituting with unsweetened cocoa powder. If you do, you will likely need to combine cocoa powder with an equal weight of cocoa butter to make baking chocolate.
- Cocoa butter is best. You can use coconut oil instead, but the end result will not look as milky and will not be solid at room temperature.
- The erythritol sweetener must be powdered. Granulated erythritol will give a pronounced crystallized texture.
- You can substitute with another dry powdered sweetener. Note that erythritol is only 70% as sweet as table sugar. If you use Swerve or anything else with a 1:1 substitution ratio for sugar, you’ll need to use less.
- Get the chocolate, cocoa butter, erythritol, and protein powder measured out by weight before starting the recipe. Double-check your numbers.
- Make sure you are combining ingredients using heat that’s just hot enough to melt the ingredients. Don’t overheat.
- Chocolate will taste the smoothest the same day that you make it. For best results, enjoy once it has hardened.
Can you use a plant based protein powder instead of the whey?
Kim, that’s probably okay but I’m wondering how it’s going to affect the texture and taste. Whey protein has a smoother taste than some plant-based protein powders like brown rice protein, which is gritty. Also, the main purpose of including a dairy ingredient like whey protein in this recipe is to lend a “milk chocolate” taste, which is probably going to be missing when you replace the whey.
I’m hoping another reader who has tried this with a plant-based protein powder can share their experience.
Using pea protein powder works and it’s smooth and creamy.
BIG WIN! No grit in the chocolate, and surprisingly easy to make.
Even though I blasted the powdered Erythritol and Whey powder in the food processsor, the chocolate still comes out slightly gritty, but it is the best recipe for sugar free chocolate I’ve tried so far. I went a step further and tempered the chocolate…I got good shine and snap, and it was stable at room temp.
Very helpful. Thanks for sharing, John!
This worked well for me, only thing I changed is I made the sugars sweeteners powdered. Perfection! Will make again and again, next time peanut butter cups. Adding some cream and making fudge would be great with this too.
Wish I could post a picture. I added some unsweetened coconut flakes and they are delish! Still a little on the bitter/dark side for me so next time I’ll add more whey and Erythritol…maybe some peanut powder too. Can’t wait to try different variations!
This was amazing!!! I was just shy of the proper amount of cocoa butter, so substituted the last 20g with coconut oil, and it still turned out amazing and just like legit cross between milk chocolate and semisweet. I also added about 1/4t of salt to the sugar/ whey before running through the coffee grinder, just to highlight the chocolate flavor more. The one thing is, I felt it was too sweet. Probably a similar sweetness to Hershey’s chocolate (though much better taste-wise), which at one time I didn’t find too sweet, but do now that I’ve cut out sugar. It reminded me a bit more of fudge because of the sweetness. Regardless, the consistency and flavor were great and helped me make a very large batch of copycat Reese’s PB cups, Keto style. Next time I’ll cut the sweetener by about 20% and see how it goes. Thank you thank you for a great recipe!! Making from bakers chocolate makes such a better chocolate than my usual standby of coconut oil and cacao powder and sweetener.
I’ve always wanted to learn how to make my own keto chocolate!
I want to make this, is it possible to make without using stevia?
Both erythritol and stevia are used to sweeten the chocolate so that less erythritol is needed, avoiding the “cooling sensation” and crystallization that sometimes happens when too much erythritol is used. If you don’t want to use stevia, you can substitute with another sweetener that isn’t erythritol-based.
Can i use whey protein isolate instead?
Yes, that’s fine. That’s actually what I usually use — whey protein isolate by Isopure (zero carb).
I am struggle to create a milk chocolate that is Keto friendly. I very much appreciate this recipe and it’s use of whey protein. I had considered using unsweetened coffee creamer or cream powder but, didn’t want to purchase the sizes available. Thought on these alternative for a milk chocolate? What brand of baking chocolate do you feel works the best if you are trying for a milk chocolate? Thanks again for the recipe, it is by far the best that I’ve found!
For this recipe, I use Bakers brand for unsweetened baking chocolate. Substituting whey protein with an unsweetened coffee creamer or cream powder should be fine. Let me know if you have any other questions.
what flavor whey protein powder do you use?
It’s unflavored.
Finally, a keto chocolate and butter cup recipe that works and tastes incredible. I made mini cups and came out with 24 gorgeous little cups of yum! Thank you, thank you!
For us, this was still too close to dark chocolate and bittersweet. Is there a way to tweek this recipe so that it tastes closer to milk chocolate than dark chocolate? I am using these recipes for my husband who is a diabetic seeking alternatives to high carbs and sugar.
Hi Julia! You can try adding more erythritol and/or stevia to sweeten the chocolate.
Quick question: in the ingredient list you have cacao butter but in the “tips” section it is down as cocoa butter. Which one do you use in the recipe? Thanks in advance!
Hi Monica! It should be cocoa butter — I’ve changed it in the ingredients list. Some brands use the terms interchangeably, so you may find it listed under both names.
Is there something I can use in place of the whey protein powder? Will egg white protein powder work?
Hi Alice! The whey protein powder gives the chocolate a more milky taste and adds protein. If you can’t use it, I would recommend just skipping it. I’m not sure about the egg white protein powder; my guess is that the chocolate would turn out better without the whey powder than trying to substitute with the egg white powder.
Hi Julia,
I made this without the whey protein is it turned out great! Not so milky, as you predicted, but a nice solid semi-sweet chocolate that I can use for dipping and for chocolate chip cookies.
So another question…often my mixture gets these tiny lumps in it, no matter how much I heat it. I thought it was the Lakanto sweetener I was using (even though I powder it finely in my spice grinder), but it looks to be small beige pieces — maybe the cacao butter? And sometimes it seems like they increase as I heat longer. Have you had this happen? Any suggestions on how to make my chocolate really smooth?
Thanks!
Alice
I’m glad they turned out great! I don’t think the beige pieces are cacao butter, especially if they increase as you heat longer. I have never had this happen before. I would suggest sifting your sweetener over the melting chocolate mixture, a small amount at a time, making sure it’s melted and incorporated before adding more. Another thing to try is to microwave your mixture instead of using the stovetop. Add cocoa butter and chocolate to a heatproof bowl, and microwave for 20-second bursts, stirring in-between, until completely melted. Once all melted and smooth, add the sweetener and stir it in. It might be worth trying this alternate heating method to see if anything comes out differently. Keep me updated! 🙂
Are you being sure no water or steam gets in the mix? That can cause the chocolate to seize, also be sure to not over heat it.
Try powdering it first, it will melt in much better.
Unsweetened baking chocolate comes in 4oz bars. Is that a typo in your ingredients list?
That’s not a typo. Baking chocolate comes in different weights, depending on the brand.
this is too much work, can’t somebody just make them and sell them on amazon LOL
Have you tried Lily’s chocolates? They are low carb. I’ve seen them sold at Whole Foods.
I love your name, “Bettina”. Don’t see this name very often
Amazon sells a few kinds that are pretty good, but very costly. This is rather easy to make and taste far better. powder the sweeteners though. I didn’t add the coconut oil, just the cocoa butter. it was amazing. I made about 4 lbs which should last me and my 2 granddaughters many months. Made the some awesome cookies too.
How did storing it long term work out? If that works out, I would love to make a huge batch, wrap well and store.